The theme for this Advent season at Lakewood United Church of Christ is JOY to the World. Each day during the Advent season, a reflection on a scripture passage related to JOY will be posted. We hope these daily reflections help you to have a joy-filled Advent.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
Isaiah 9:3 New Revised Standard Version
This verse is from a well-known passage of the prophet Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. . . For a child has been born for us, a son given to us: authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. . .”
This beautiful passage is a celebration of the help and hope God is sending in a child. As Christians, we see this promise fulfilled in Jesus. This passage is a celebration of peace. We are told that the authority of the Prince of Peace, “shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.” [Isaiah 9:7] Here is a promise of permanent peace with a foundation of justice.
It is interesting that in the middle of these glorious images of peace, there is the phrase, “as people exult when dividing plunder.” In another translation we read, “as warriors celebrate when dividing spoils.” This image is used as a way of expressing the extreme joy that the people feel toward God for sending this leader who will save them and bring peace. Somehow, dividing the spoils of war does not seem to fit with this vision of peace. This is especially true when we consider that the spoils of war included people, especially women who were captured, often raped, and taken as slaves.
When speaking of joy, I don’t think that we can associate joy with the pain of someone else. I don’t think joy comes at some else’s expense. I don’t think we can feel joy as a consequence of someone else’s hardship. When someone is murdered, maybe the family of the person who was killed feels relief that the perpetrator is found. At the end of the trial, they may feel closure. But can there be joy in such a circumstance? If you and a coworker are great friends and colleagues, and the company decides it must downsize one of you, do you feel joy when your friend is fired and you keep your job? No. Maybe, again, you feel relief. But I don’t think it can be joy.
Joy must be pure. It cannot be at someone’s expense. It cannot be as a result of harm done to someone. Or the oppression of someone. Or the ill-treatment of someone. It cannot be associated with ill-gotten gain.
This season, we sing, “Joy to the World.” Let that be our reminder. Joy to the whole world. To everyone. Not just to some as the expense of others.
Prayer
This season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, may we seek the joy that comes with true peace. May we seek to do what is good and right. And may we uphold justice, as Jesus did, so that all the world may know JOY. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 